Integrated Vector Management (PDF)

Diseases transmitted by insects continue to have a major impact onhuman populations. Malaria, dengue, onchocerciasis, sleepingsickness and leishmaniasis all adversely affect man. Malaria is oneof the most important causes of child mortality and reduceseconomic development in many countries, with agriculturalproductivity often greatly reduced, as many vectors are active inthe wet season favourable for crop production. Vector control iscrucial to reduce the extent to which drugs are needed to treat thediseases, as the parasite can become resistant, or the drugs areoften too expensive for those living in rural areas and urban slumsmost affected by these diseases.

Chemical control of vectors is often the only method that canreduce vector populations in a disease epidemic, but with vectorsdeveloping resistance to insecticides, there is increasingawareness that a single control method is often insufficient andalso that chemical control must be integrated where possible withother control measures.

In Integrated Vector Management, Graham Matthews coversthe main chemical methods of vector control, including the use ofindoor residual spraying, space treatments, the use of treated bednets and larviciding, but also stresses the importance of drainageschemes and improvement of houses to prevent access of indoorvectors, techniques that have largely been responsible for reducingthe risk of vector borne diseases in Europe and the USA. This bookcombines practical information from successful vector controlprogrammes, including early use of DDT, and recent research into avital resource for all those now involved in combating insectvector borne diseases.

Integrated Vector Management is an essential tool, notonly for medical entomologists and those directly involved ingovernment health departments, but also for all those who providethe skills and management needed to operate successful area-widevector management programmes. Libraries in all universities andresearch establishments world-wide, where biological sciences,medicine and agriculture are studied and taught should havemultiple copies of this important book.